Course info

​This two-day course will provide you with an introduction to the important geochemical processes that affect groundwater composition and chemical reaction modeling as a means to better site understanding and remediation design.

Geochemical processes affecting the composition of natural groundwater and the movement of groundwater contaminants include a wide variety of solid phase/water and gas interactions within an aquifer. It’s often impossible to predict the impact of these interactions on groundwater composition without a realistic conceptual geochemical model of the system and a means to calculate the interdependent chemical reactions. During this course, you will learn methods for developing reasonable conceptual models using site-specific data that, when combined with an equilibrium modeling code, produce a geochemical model of a site strengthening the understanding of the fate and transport of chemicals needed for remediation design.

This course will use PHREEQCI (a free, widely used U.S. Geological Survey code) for natural and contaminated systems. Emphasis will be placed on inorganic reaction modeling involving major ions and trace metals. Each session will include a discussion of an important geochemical process — such as mineral dissolution/precipitation, oxidation/reduction, or adsorption/desorption — and a demonstration of modeling the process with PHREEQCI. Practice sessions will integrate examples presented in lectures into realistic problems to provide valuable experience in modeling at specific sites.

You should bring a laptop computer to the class to work examples independently and along with the instructors. Prior to the class, you should download PHREEQCI and its accompanying files from the USGS Web site http://wwwbrr.cr.usgs.gov/projects/GWC_coupled/phreeqc/. At the class, you will receive a comprehensive handout covering the discussion topics and guidelines for setting up, running, and interpreting each class example. You will also receive a copy of Groundwater Geochemistry, the textbook used in this course.

Learning objectives

In this course, you will learn about:

Chemical reactions and the groundwater geochemical system

Chemical equilibrium calculations

PHREEQC/PHREEQCI

Ion speciation calculations

Gas phase equilibrium

Carbonate system

Mineral equilibriums

Mass transfer modeling

Oxidation/reduction modeling

Adsorption/desorption processes

Surface complexation modeling

One-dimensional contaminant fate and transport modeling.

Who should attend?

​Geochemists

Hydrogeologists

Engineers

Project managers

Regulators.​​​

* Prerequisites

Relevant concepts in aqueous geochemistry will be presented as background material. You should possess a basic understand of chemistry and you should be knowledgeable in the topics covered in the NGWA courses “Fundamentals of Groundwater Geochemistry” and “Applications of Groundwater Geochemistry.”​

Venue

Accommodations: NGWA has secured a limited block of rooms on a
first come, first served basis at the group rate of $113 per night single/double
occupancy.
These rates apply to the NGWA room block and are valid until the September
11 cutoff, unless our block has been filled before that date. Remember, you are
responsible for securing your own reservations. For guest check-in and checkout
times, please contact the hotel directly.​​